Open Up

by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley

First published 2025

A young boy experiences his first football match, carried by hidden enchantments that make the ordinary world shimmer with possibility. The crowd roars around him as he discovers what it means to belong somewhere larger than himself. Across these five stories, characters navigate the tender spaces between isolation and understanding. An adolescent stumbles through the awkward geometry of growing up, while elsewhere a seahorse processes grief in ways that mirror human bewilderment. Each protagonist searches for the moment when another person truly sees them, when the risk of complete vulnerability transforms into connection. Morris builds these encounters from small gestures and quiet revelations. A glance across a room becomes an invitation. A shared silence holds more weight than conversation. The stories move between the thrill of recognition and the ache of missed chances, finding unexpected grace in ordinary moments of self-discovery.

Genres: short-stories, literary-fiction, coming-of-age, contemporary

Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking

Tropes: found-family, quiet-moments

200 pages · ebook · The Unamed Press

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